


I Want to Be A Pop Idol

by epershand



Category: Smallville
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Rock Band, Failboats, M/M, Not!Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-08-01
Updated: 2011-08-01
Packaged: 2017-10-22 01:53:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/232426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/epershand/pseuds/epershand
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clark/Lex rockstar AU. Written for octette's prompt in the Hypothetical AU meme: "something about Clark and Lex in which they are members of rival bands!"</p><p>Clark is not in a band.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Want to Be A Pop Idol

Clark and Lex used to have a garage band together in high school. Lex played the guitar and Clark, who was very shy, played the drums. Lex was, of course, incredibly in love with Clark and the way his skin glowed and the joy on his face when he was caught up in his drumming and didn't see anyone else around him. Clark, being FUCKING CLARK, noticed none of this and spent entirely too much time telling Lex exactly how much of a geek he was and how no one would ever like him. There was constant awkwardness, because Lex would do things like buy Clark entire new kits all the time, and then Jonathan would get stern and lecturey and make Clark feel bad about it, and Clark would turn around and make *Lex* feel bad about it, and Lex would get self-defensive and hook up with someone else and Clark wouldn't even *say* anything about it, just look quietly betrayed.

But what neither Clark nor Lex knew at the time was that Clark was secretly the lovechild of an Jor L, the drummer of an incredibly famous 70s rock band, who abandoned him with the Kents when he was tiny. And at some point, Jor L secretly came to one of Clark and Lex's gigs and was like "holy shit, my kid can drum, I totally want to adopt him back. And Clark was like, no, I love my family, it's cool that you're majorly famous, I just want to do my own thing, thanks?

And Clark, as we know, is the dumbest person ever, so Clark decided to keep the whole thing a secret, but Lex could tell something was going on, and spent a lot of time and energy doing research and then finally figured it out. And he was like WOW THAT IS SO COOL! And Clark was like, "I can't believe you betrayed my trust and spied on me like that. We can never be friends again." And basically walked out of Lex's life.

So now it's years later, and Lex is a world-famous rock star. Mostly he's famous for his emo songs about how his daddy never loved him and he wishes he could marry ~somebody~ and be a part of their family. He's always really dodgy in interviews about exactly who the ~somebody~ is, and there's tons of speculation all over the internet.

Clark, meanwhile, is a well-known music critic at the Daily Planet, and basically got a lot of his fame for constantly panning Lex's music, and it really pisses Lex off.

So, Lex has got this really huge show, and naturally Clark's in the audience so he can write a sarcastic review of it for tomorrow morning's paper, and Lex knows Clark's in the audience, and maybe he had a little too much to drink before he went onstage, because he sashays out towards the side of the stage where the press area is, and he's like "This song is for him. That guy, who I always wanted to have in my life, and who always thought he and his family were too good for me. He does nothing but criticize, but he's still the one, and he always will be."

And he's basically got his eyes locked with Clark's and everyone else in the audience can see that he does, which means that Clark, who has always been very careful to make himself the author and not the subject of music news, suddenly has everyone else in the press box eyeing him hungrily, and no matter what he writes about this show, he's going to be the story of the week. Which probably means the whole Jor L connection is finally going to be discovered, and basically Clark is professionally fucked from a "staying below the radar" perspective.

After the show, Clark slams into the dressing room unannounced and is just like "What the fuck, Lex? Why do you always have to do this shit? You push and you push and you try to get under my skin, and I just don't get it. Is it some sort of revenge for the press? Or for quitting our stupid band when I was 17? I don't get it."

And Lex just looks at him like, have your really listened to none of my music? At any point in time?

And Clark is like, "Why are you doing that weird cryptic staring thing? You always do that weird staring thing as though it's supposed to mean something. I hate you."

And ok, Lex can't take it anymore, but he sucks at explaining himself outside his songs, and it's not as if Clark would listen to him anyway, so he shoves Clark back against the door of the dressing room, stands up on his tiptoes, grabs hold of Clark's hair, and pulls him down for a kiss. For several seconds that go on forever, Clark just stands there dumbly, and that pisses Lex off more than anything, so Lex bites Clark's lower lip, and Clark's mouth sort of drops open in shock, and Lex licks in viciously.

At which point, Clark pulls back and looks down at him, and his standard self-righteous betrayal look slowly begins to melt into the shock of realizing what Lex was trying to say with the lyrics that he's been calling trite and overwrought for *years.*

And finally, *finally*, Clark closes his eyes in embarrassment mixed with a little bit of shame about exactly how much of a jerk he's been. Eventually, he brings one of his (giant freakish farmboy drummer) hands back around to cup the base of Lex's skull and leans down to kiss him gently, rough fingers stroking into the dip just above his neck. Lex relaxes and lets him control the kiss, although he can't help getting in a few more nips here and there, because Clark has been making him wait forever, and his feelings on the subject have gotten increasingly violent over the years.

Clark eventually pulls back, and for a little while he just keeps blinking dumbly at Lex, and finally he says, "Ok. Um, I need some time to figure this out. I… I've gotta… just… be alone for a bit." And Lex is pretty exasperated, but he holds his hands up to his sides and steps back to let Clark walk out of the dressing room.

Where, just as Lex pretty much suspected, he's met with dozens of flash-bulbs documenting exactly how red and swollen his lips are, how messed up his hair is from Lex's grip, and how bright he flushes as he shoves by them to get outside the building to go home.

Because yeah, Lex may be pretty much hopelessly in love with Clark, but he's not an idiot about how these things work. And if Clark, with all his industry experience, is going to be this much of an idiot? He absolutely deserves what's coming to him.

He looks at himself in the mirror and sees exactly how ruffled up *he* is from the kiss, lips bruised and shirt rucked up from the hand Clark had around his waist. He makes no move to fix it, and after the crowd outside has calmed down from Clark's departure, he opens the dressing-room door and leans outside.

The cameras immediately turn back to him again. "No comment," he tells them blandly, and winks.


End file.
